HALIFAX, CA – Today was the first day of match play at the 2022 Youth and Masters Pan Am Championships in Halifax. Individual elimination rounds up to bronze took place today, and there was no lack of action. The wind improved over yesterday’s qualification rounds, with very little gusts throughout the day. The weather was warm and sunny, with a cool breeze present.

The top four qualifiers in the RU18W category won their quarterfinals; Isabelle Trindade Estevez Pereira (BRA) and Diana Gutierrez (MEX) then won the semifinals to shoot for gold on Sunday, June 5. Yatana Mora (MEX), first-placed qualifier, beat Akshara Vijay (USA) for the bronze. A Brazil-USA matchup and a duel between Mexican archers determined the finals for the RU21W division. Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano (BRA) and Paula Saucedo (MEX) will shoot for gold; Grecia Adriana Gonzalez Talamentes won the tiebreaker for the bronze medal. In the 50+ women’s recurve event, Tatyana Muntyan, the sole woman from the US Virgin Islands, took the bronze. 

Switching over to the RU18M division, the #1-ranked Emanuel Luiz Gravano Paulo de Azevedo (BRA) was knocked out by 9th-ranked Colombian Diego Alejandro Rodriguez Silva in the quarterfinals. Francisco Padilla (MEX) and American Ewan An faced off in the semifinal, with Padilla moving onto the gold match, and Daniel Jiménez Serna filling the other slot. An went on to wear the bronze medal around his neck. In the RU21M category, Carlos Vaca continued his successful run all the way to the gold medal match, and will face Stefan Savin (USA) for the gold on Sunday. Matheus Quintanilhia Pacheco Gomez (BRA) and Andres Gallardo Ferrada (CHI) faced off in the bronze match, Gallardo Ferrada coming out on top. In the 50M division, The semi finals were both composed of an American and an Argentinian archer, with the two Americans (Williams and Vickers) advancing to the gold medal round, while Oliveto and Cannelli (Argentina) battled it out for bronze. Cannelli will wear the bronze medal around his neck.

“It’s my first international medal, and wow, I was really excited during my last arrow,” says Gallardo Ferrada, bronze medallist of the recurve U21M division. “I had a lot of nerves, I was thinking at first ‘I can’t, I can’t’ but when I was aiming, I knew that arrow felt so good. I knew I could do it. I was so excited.”

The following recurve archers won bronze medals today: Ewan An (USA, U18M), Andres Gallardo Ferrada (CHI, U21M), Daniel Cannelli (ARG, 50M), Yatana Mora (MEX, U18W), Grecia Adriana Gonzalez Talamantes (MEX, U21W), and Tatyana Muntyan (ISV, 50W). 

Due to the number of compound archers in the competition, their elimination rounds started at the quarterfinals. American and Mexican archers dominated the U18W compound division, with two archers each advancing to the semifinals, which led to USA-Mexico battles in both medal matches. While the gold isn’t contested until Sunday, Adriana Castillo (MEX) walked away with the bronze medal. The scores in the U21W compound division were no bigger than a 9 point difference. #1-ranked Isabella Otter, who ranked first by 40 points, advanced to the gold medal round. She’ll face one of the two El Salvadorian archers in this competition (Paola Corado). Canadian Chyler Sanders eventually shot her way to the bronze medal with a score of 140-130. In the 50W compound division, the ¼ and semifinals led to two Canadians (Groszko and Oshiro) in the gold medal match and two Americans (Dunaway and Diab) in the bronze medal match. Dunaway won the bronze medal.

On the men’s compound side, in the U18 division, there was a double-Canadian quarterfinal between Keegan Crawford and Emmett Kapaniuk, where Crawford advanced. #1 Jose Cuellar (MEX) then faced off against Crawford, winning and sending himself to the gold medal match. William Fowler (USA) won both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, facing off against Cuellar on Sunday. Crawford and Julian Gomez Zuluaga shot a tiebreaker match, where they both shot a 10, but J. Gomez Zuluaga’s arrow was just a little closer. Over in the U21M category, #1-ranked Pablo Gomez Zuluaga shot his way into the gold medal match, pushing Canadian Isaac Bedford into the bronze medal match where he lost to Isaac Sullivan (USA). The top two ranked qualifiers in the 50M compound category (Chuck Cooley and Christopher Deston, both American) will fight it out for the gold, while Horacio Rubén Fannelli (ARG) beat out Steve Hilger (USA) by one point for the bronze medal.

The following compound archers won bronze medals today: Julian Gomez Zuluaga (COL, U18M), Isaac Sullivan (USA, U21M), Horacio Rubén Fannelli (ARG, 50M), Adriana Castillo (MEX, U18W), Chyler Sanders (CAN, U21W), Alanna Dunaway (USA, 50W). 

There were four Americans in the U18 women’s barebow divisions. Erin Heyob and Abigail Sparpaglione will battle it out for gold, while Maggie Brensinger won the bronze medal in the end. In the U21 category, Lauren Heinzelman lost her semifinal and because of limited numbers in this division, she won the bronze. Meanwhile, Anastacia Godman and Raeleigh McKellar will face off in the gold medal match. There was one Canadian match up in the B50W quarterfinals, which Angela Foley won. She went on to win the semifinal and will face Ruth Delzell (USA) for the gold. Delzell won her semifinal against Darlene Kossler (USA), who went on to win against a teammate for the bronze.

In the U18 men’s barebow event, Tatro Luca (USA) lost his semifinal and received bronze, again due to the small number of athletes. Max Rossiter and Nicholas Heinzelman will battle for gold on Sunday. During the 50M barebow competition, Rick Stonebraker (USA) won against Lloyd Polack (CAN), sending him to the bronze medal match, where he won against David Nesbitt (USA). Stonebraker’s opponent in the final will be Daniel Weiss, fellow American.

The following barebow archers won bronze medals today: Tatro Luca, (USA, U18M) Lloyd Polack (CAN, 50M), Maggie Brensinger (USA, U18W), Lauren Heinzelman (USA, U21W), Darlene Kossler (USA, 50W).

CANADIAN RESULTS

In the ⅛ recurve U18 women’s division, Janna Hawash faced off against Madison Liao (USA) and won decisively; she then faced Diana Gutierrez (MEX), losing 6-2. In the recurve U21 division, Natalee Chan’s first faced Ana Carolina Teodoro Popperl (BRA), and won with a score of 7-3, tying the third end. She then faced Paola Saucedo (MEX), where she unfortunately dropped the match. Lucie Filion, the sole Canadian 50W recurve archer at the event, unfortunately dropped her first match against American Janis Grellner (0-6). 

Liam Bennett lost his ⅛ final match in the recurve U18 men division, with a score of 1-7 against 6th-ranked Ewan An (USA). Benjamen Lee was the sole Canadian who reached the quarterfinals in the U21 recurve division, with Jules Chouinard, Dawson Molitor, and Dylan Villanueva all unfortunately losing their ⅛ final matches. He unfortunately lost his match against top-ranked Vaca, tying the first end. 

Bailey Mathers shot in the compound U18 women’s quarterfinals against Savannah O’Donohue (USA) and lost the match by 8 points. There were four Canadian women in the U21 compound division, which included an all-Canadian quarterfinal between Riley Downham and Chyler Sanders. Sanders ended up taking the match with a score of 136-129. Sanders lost in the semifinals against #1 Otter, moving on to face Hetvetled in the bronze medal match. Sanders then won, bringing home the first Canadian medal at this event. Jyotsna Challa lost to the 1st-ranked Isabella Otter (USA) by only 1 point. Brynnleigh Lohner faced off against Hatley Hetletved, who won the match by the end of it. 

“I’m really happy,” Chyler comments on her bronze medal match. “There are no words for it really. I definitely want to try for the World Archery Youth Championships in Ireland, that’s my next big goal.”

Josten North (compound U18M) dropped his first match to Julian Gomez Zuluaga. Keegan Crawford and Emmett Kapaniuk had their first match in the quarterfinals, with Crawford taking the win. Moving up to the compound U21 men, Brady Klassen unfortunately lost his match against Isaac Sullivan (ranked 6th overall). Cameron Palichuk and Isaac Bedford won their matches against Jaydon Soderlund and Lautaro Alejandro Pousa, respectively, to move on. Bedford won against his teammate Dustin Watson by two points, while Palichuk lost to Gomez Zuluaga.

In the 50+ women’s division of the compound competition, Dawn Groszko got a bye from her 2nd-ranked qualification score. Tricia Oshiro faced off against Maria Victoria Parra (COL), and won the quarterfinal match to move onto the semifinals. Groszko and Oshiro then both won their semifinals, setting up a gold medal Canadian battle between the two of them on Sunday.

There was a Canadian match-up in the barebow 50W quarterfinals, featuring Lora-Lee Murray and Angela Foley. Foley eventually won the bout, with a score of 6-0. She then won her semifinal to set Canada up for another chance at a gold medal in the barebow 50+ women’s division (6-2 against Jenifer Stoner). 

As mentioned above, Lloyd Polack, a Canadian contender in the 50M barebow division, walked away from today with a bronze medal.

“[I felt] excited, super excited,” says Polack when asked how he feels about his bronze medal win. “It was my first experience with match play or international competitions, so I’m pretty thrilled.”

All that action wraps up a busy day in Halifax, and tomorrow, the event continues with the team matches and the gold medal matches on Sunday.

This event is made possible by support from the Government of Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the City of Halifax.

For more information, please contact:
Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator

zmeil@archerycanada.ca

(613) 260-2113 ext. 3

-30-